The article deals with Trudy i dni Lavinii, one of the most prominent and enigmatic texts of the contemporary Russian poet Elena Shvarts and is primarily concerned with the character of the monastery, i.e. nunnery, depicted there. Many passages in the text indicate that it is an oecumenical utopia, for members of different denominations coexist there together peacefully. But the nunnery is also a specifically female, maybe even a feminist utopia, for these are women who live there undisturbed by patriarchal authorities. The utopian vision is, however, disturbed towards the end when the protagonist, Lavinia, is thrown out by other nuns. The main argument is here that it is the tension between the longing for a (spiritual, female) community on the one sind and the realisation that the way to God is that of absolute solitude that constitutes the specific character and the tragic quality of Trudy i dni Lavinii.